The Doodles on Row C
by mixedcolors767
Summary: In the face of violence and mystery, a fated love comes to fruition.
1. Seating Charts

A/N: This is the intro/background to what will eventually become a fic that covers Lily/James from 6th to 7th year. The format of this first chapter won't necessarily be the format of the future chapters. It is also significantly shorter. While the focus of this fic is Lily/James, that's not all it will be about. The First War is happening concurrently, and I love the marauders and such so they'll be present just about as much as Lily and James. Of course, there will also be O/Cs.

Reviews mean faster updates :)

Disclaimer: You know how it goes.

It had happened by chance at first. Assigned seating on the first day of classes was alphabetical according to first name. After first year, their professors didn't see the point in changing up the seating chart, even if Sirius Black _had_ magicked them all to switch his place with Isabelle Tunkins so that he could be next to James as well. Besides some minor disturbances, the chart worked.

Some time after third year, the professors stopped forcing seating charts on their students. But James and Lily still sat next to each other. It was out of habit more than anything, which would be the answer they'd give if you asked them why. To the pair of Gryffindors, it just made sense. And in third year, when James and Lily were the only two Gryffindors taking Ancient Runes, it made sense they'd sit together there too.

Just because something makes sense, doesn't mean it ensures peace. From the first day they met, the two fated souls were at each other's throats. He was obnoxious, and she didn't care much for teasing. For a few months during third year, he lived to turn her face the same color as her hair by saying just about anything that he knew would bother her. This included asking incessantly about muggle appliances, questioning each of her freckles in turn about their habits, and insisting that he was better at her than everything (except the girly stuff). It usually went that Lily would spend two days ignoring his petulance, and then blow up in potions, using all of her wit to insult his funny hair and mucky draught.

Sirius insisted that it was this interaction that lead to Lily's first Slug Club invitation.

For those first few years, Lily and James spoke little to each other except for those seemingly meaningless interactions during class. When James wasn't picking on Lily, he was fooling around with Sirius or passing notes to his other two mates. Outside of classes, Lily had her friends to distract her from the hazel-eyed boy that just woudn't leave her alone. But in their third year, in a class full of Ravenclaws, James and Lily learned that they were in fact capable of having a conversation. That was also when James realized that Lily was in fact, very funny. Lily thought it might have been Severus' absence that let her open up to James more, because James didn't bully her best friend in that classroom. In that classroom, James had no Sirius and Lily had no Severus. And although they rarely had conversations that went deeper than talking about the going-ons in the castle, when Lily's father died at the end of third year, James made sure to pay extra attention to his notes so that she could copy them when she returned.

By their fifth year, Lily wished for nothing more than to be left alone by the insufferable toe-rag that was James Potter. By Halloween of that year, he had asked her out four times, in big show-offy ways that Lily was sure was meant to impress everyone in the castle besides her. For the most part, James and Sirius were preoccupied in classes, planning and plotting and everything in between. So Lily was, thankfully, left to chat with her other neighbors and pass notes to Sev. But when Potter decided that Lily might think of him fonder if he turned her Sleeping Drought into a Singing Drought that pronounced her love for him five minutes before the end of potions class, Lily decided that she absolutely hated James Potter. She told him so, right then and there, and spent the remainder of the period shouting that his messy hair was just irritating and that he wasn't actually _that_ good at quidditch and that his nose reminded her of a flobberworm. Four days later, Lily congratulated him on his flying during the match against Hufflepuff, after she found a drawing of Potter with flobberworms coming out of his nose in her notebook. It was the first of three times that they would shout at each other that year.

The second time was when James' father passed away. He was old, and it was in his sleep, and James only missed three days of classes to be with his mother because OWLS were fast approaching. Sirius had gone with him, but they hadn't been seen speaking for weeks. Lily and Remus found James during one of their patrols, and although both were willing to let him off without so much as a lecture, James pounced as soon as he saw them. With the marauders' relationships already strained, Remus had simply walked away from his friend. But Lily stayed and let James yell at her about some nonsense, and didn't flinch when he started to cry. She summoned a glass of water when his voice got hoarse from the shouting, and sat against the wall when he grew silent. Eventually he sat down too, and the pair listened to the quiet, until Lily remembered a joke that James had told her many months ago. He had told her it was one of his father's favorites. It was the first time James smiled in weeks.

The third time was the last week of testing, and Lily was tired of shouting. She had already had a row with her best friend, and didn't fancy shouting any more. Whether it was loyalty, self-righteousness, or habit, she ended up doing so anyway—in front of the whole school no less. James never apologized for what he said, and neither did she. Not even in their coy little ways they had grown used to over the years. Instead, Lily ignored Potter for the rest of term, and James spent the rest of it trying to force Snape to apologize again, ignoring the nagging feeling that giving Snivellus tentacles wasn't going to get Lily to smile again.

They didn't speak until September 1st, when circumstances prevented anything else. 


	2. Murtlap Essence

This chapter is dedicated to my first every reviewer, swimmy6! Thanks for the support.

* * *

Eileen prince is not a person you say "no" to. Not because she's particularly scary or in anyway threatening, but because the dark haired woman, whose sallow and sunken face seems to droop whenever she talks, has the saddest goddamn eyes whenever she asks for a favor. And so, for the second time that summer, Lily Evans found herself sitting in a cramped sedan next to Severus Snape. The silence in the car was punctuated by Mrs. Prince's sniffs and Mrs. Evans' expressions of concern, but the two teenagers never said a word to each other, and their eyes met only at the least convenient moments.

While for the first half hour of the car ride Lily had silently fumed and bit back the curses and jinxes she was itching to throw, the remainder of the trip to Kings Cross found Lily debating with herself which topics she could possibly bring up without starting another argument. She had already ruled out asking if he'd been to Diagon Alley, because he had probably gone with Mulciber and Avery. Talking about classes was also out of the question, as it would only lead to a discussion of ambitions for post-Hogwarts life, and Lily was sure she didn't want to know Severus' plans. Even a simple " How was your summer, Sev?" would be sure to end in Severus being sarcastic and bitter and Lily feeling guilty and then more anger. At long last, Lily decided it might be safe to ask if he had read anything interesting over the holiday, but before she could plan out the best way to phrase the question, the Evans' small car came to a stop outside the train station, and Mrs. Evans turned to beam at the pair of students behind her.

It was a strained smile, just a little sad and a lot of pleading. The forced look of it made Lily want to giggle, but she stifled the noise when Mrs. Prince turned to give a much more pained smile to her son.

"Well," began Mrs. Evans, "This is it. Your second to last year at school. I bet you're both so anxious!" Severus looked like he was trying to smile but it came out more like a grimace.

"It'll be much worse next year, when we take our exams" Lily replied, giving her mother a warm grin. Severus grunted in agreement.

The ladies continued with their conversation, mostly carried on by the two red heads, as they got out the luggage from the car and made their way towards the platform. The two Evans' walked arm and arm, laughing about nothing, with the elder sending worried glances over her shoulder now and then at their two companions.

"Mum... They're all right they don't need our help getting to the barrier."

"I know dear, it's just... Eileen looks sickly, don't you think?" She did indeed look ill to Lily, but not anymore than usual. "Her cousins passed away this summer, did you know? In some sort of horrible accident. I'm not sure she even went to the funeral, but she looked so distressed when she told me about it."

The truth was that the few Princes left in the wizarding world were almost all dead. While Mrs. Prince had decided to go against her family's wishes and marry a muggle, she had a deep seeded pride in being a Prince, a pure-blood. Her family was less known than the Blacks, but just as ancient and just as prejudiced. It hadn't been an accident that had killed the remainder of the woman's family, but Aurors allegedly on the defense. The deaths hadn't gone unnoticed by either side.

"... and did you see that bruise on poor Severus' arm? I had hoped that that mess had ended." Lily had noticed the bruise, it being the first thing to send Lily into a firey pit of guilt and anger earlier that day. "Has he spoken at all to you-"

"_No_." This was a point Lily wanted to make clear. "We don't talk anymore, mum. It's not just some row that we've had like kids it's- bigger than that," she finished lamely. So far Lily had managed to avoid telling her mum about the war that had gained heat over the summer. Lily couldn't possibly explain why Hogwarts was the safest place for her, not well enough that her mother wouldn't worry. Thankfully, Mrs. Evans was pacified on the subject, at least for the moment.

Not having any magic in her blood, Mrs Evans was unable to accompany her daughter into the platform that contained the train that would take her away for the next four months. Mrs. Prince and her son had caught up with the pair and waited for Lily to say a tearful goodbye to her mother. As Mrs. Evans wiped her face with her left hand, she placed her right on the shoulder of Mrs. Prince for support. At this show of affection Mrs. Prince flinched, and Lily wondered for a moment whether it was because of whom it was touching her, or that she was simply not accustomed to such friendly behavior.

With one last watery smile, Lily pushed her trolley through the barrier and found herself feeling as if she'd like to run. But in what direction, she wasn't sure.  
Her travel companions appeared next to her shortly, and Lily said a polite but hurried adieu to her neighbor before rushing towards the train. The mother-son goodbye was not one that she needed to witness.

* * *

The full moon had never been so close to the start of term.

_'I'm lucky'_ Remus reminded himself_. 'It happened before term, not during the first week or Merlin forbid on the first day_'.  
Remus Lupin was not lucky though, and the last full moon right before the beginning of his second to last year at Hogwarts had been on August 31st. If anything, Remus Lupin was lucky he was even on the train.

In fact, because of his condition, Remus had arrived at the platform approximately one hour before anyone else had started to show up, in order to ensure a compartment away from prying eyes. His parents had done their best job healing his injuries, but his father, the only other wizard in their small family, was not particularly practiced in dealing with cursed wounds. Usually he would have had time to go to Saint Mungo's, but the bloody full moon just had to be on bloody August 31st. So there he sat with a half healed scratch along his neck and bruises on a third of his body. But it could have been worse, as Remus was prone to reminding himself.

Unfortunately, Remus couldn't hide in his compartment for the entire train ride. Not only would his friends surely take the mickey out of him if he did, but he had to go to the prefect's carriage. Maybe if he showed them a bruise or two they wouldn't mind his coming late. Two minutes before the meeting was scheduled to begin, Remus decided going to the meeting now was better than answering questions later.

But luck was not on Remus Lupin's side today. No sooner had he stepped out of his compartment than he heard shouts coming from the opposite direction he was headed. High-pitched childlike shouts that did not sound like the joyful squeals of third years reuniting with their friends. Growling, Remus turned and began to limp-jog towards the source of the noise.

He wasn't the only one who had heard the commotion, apparently.

"Moony! How've you been? James and I found a new pet." The great prat Sirius Black had his wand pointed at a Slytherin 7th year who was on the ground growing what looked like patches of wool all over his skin. "Look, he has a tail too." What Sirius called a tail must have been the squid tentacle protruding from the wooly teenager's backside. Sirius laughed as the practically immobile 'pet' made a noise somewhere between a grunt and a squeal. "I bet I can make him grow antlers too..."

"Oy!" exclaimed the until then silent James Potter.

"That's enough, Sirius. Put him right before some of his mates come by and test out how you look with fins."

"I wouldn't mind, if they gave me gills at least," but Sirius flicked his wand and the wool started disappearing. "Maybe I'll let him keep the tail, he doesn't look that bad with it." Just as Sirius said this the boy on the ground let out a wild squeak and ink shot from the tentacle all over James. Sirius burst out laughing and even Remus couldn't help but smile as James furiously started spluttering and flailing to try and get off the dark gooey substance. In between gasps of laughter, Sirius removed the tentacle too. Once James got the majority of ink off of his face, Sirius announced that he would personally drop off the Slytherin to the conductor's car towards the end of the train, where he would be forced to listen to the jolly old man's folk songs.

As Sirius dragged the dazed Slytherin to the next car, Remus turned to James who was still trying to get blotches of ink off of him. "So err- what happened?"

"The git was cursing a group of second years. Thought it'd be funny to make all of their books chase them around the train. One ended up running into a wall and got a pretty decent black eye. I think Pete was trying to heal it..." He glanced around, as if only just realizing that their blonde haired friend was not with them. "What about you? Where've you been all this -"

"Remus! Oy, Remus!" A short, red haired figure was walking towards the two sixth years, looking moderately upset.

"_Shit_."

"What have _you_ done?"

Lily approached the two sixth year boys, looking determinedly at Remus. James frowned. He had almost forgotten that Lily hated him. He had hoped that after nearly three months of distance, she might be able to at least look him in the eye.

"Where were you? Don't you know that Galina Gavin is the new head girl? She was right ready to take your badge away for skiving off your duties so early on." Lily crossed her arms and glared at her fellow prefect. Out of the corner of his eye Remus could see James hurriedly getting rid of any evidence of the incident before-namely the puddle of ink.

"Shit." Remus repeated. "Did you cover for me?"

Lily took in Remus's haggered appearence, the bruise that wasn't quite hidden on his arm, the heavy bags around his eyes, and the disheveled state of his robes, as if he had woken up in them. Her face softened, and she knew she could not be angry at him. " Of course I did. I don't exactly fancy patrolling by myself for the next year. But what were you doing? It's not like you to just not show up."

"I was-uhh-"

Perhaps the luckiest he had been all day, Remus Lupin was saved from having to answer because at that moment, the three sixth years, who had at that point been standing in the middle of an otherwise deserted corridor, were thrust back into an empty compartment by what felt like a gust of wind, the door slamming after them. And then the lights went out and people started screaming.

Two wands lit almost simultaneously, and Lily and James looked at each other, eyes wide. It took both of them a moment to realize that the third member of their party was not within their sight.

"Moony?" James said quietly, as if worried about what reply he might get. A groan was heard from somewhere below them, and both Lily and James pointed their lit wands at the floor.

"Oh, _Remus_!" They both knelt down beside their friend. Remus' eyes were shut tight, his brow creased and he was beginning to sweat. He sounded as though whatever air he was gasping for wasn't reaching his lungs.

"Merlin, mate, what-" but James didn't know what to say, and could only look up at Lily, desperate for some help. Lily met his eyes for a moment and then went back to observing Remus.

"I think- I think he's only had the wind knocked out of him, but-" She drifted off, biting her lip. "He looks like he's in a lot of pain."

Slowly, James slipped his arm under his friend and lifted him into a sitting position where he could rest against the wall. It seemed to help, and after a minute, Remus managed to choke out a few noises that sounded something like "I'm okay." James gave him an appraising look, and then an understanding nod.

Once she was convinced Remus was all right, anger started to set in Lily. Anger and panic. She turned from the boys and began to furiously shake the door, but it wouldn't budge. Eventually she took to banging against the glass, and even shouted a hex at the door only to have it ricochet and crack one of the benches, thankfully missing her two peers.

"Dammit!" She shouted. "I am a PREFECT. Open the damn door!" Whatever she thought may happen by saying this, didn't. In fact, it only made a still heavy breathing Remus chuckle and a bemused James shake his head. But the latter wasn't looking at Lily, but instead was whispering to something in his hand. Lily thought for a moment that he may have been whispering to Remus before realizing that the prat was also putting his ear to his hand to listen to whomever he was talking with.  
Before Lily got a chance to question him on this strange behavior, James turned to her and said "I don't think we're under attack."

No one had actually said anything to suggest they were, but since the lights had gone out it had been the primary fear.

"Why not?" Lily asked, perhaps a little louder than necessary.

"Because, no one is shouting anymore. Well, except you. The compartments are automatically supposed to shut down at the possibility of a threat, maybe it was a false alarm- or maybe they were just testing the system." Remus seemed to believe this theory at least, as he then reached into his pocket and pulled out a bar of Honeydukes finest, taking a large bite out of it. Lily was a little more skeptical, and turned back towards the door to peek through the glass.

"No one seems to be moving," said Lily, unsure whether or not that was a good sign.

"See, Evans? No ghouls or erumpets aboard the Hogwarts express. Well, unless Sirius transfigured someone into one." This didn't exactly assure Lily, but as Remus held out his chocolate bar to her and she took a bite, she felt warmth rush down her body and her shoulders relax. Unsure but unable to do much else, Lily returned to what she knew she _could_ do and knelt down next to Remus. She opened up her shoulder bag and pulled out a bottle of homemade potion.

"Murtlap Essence. It will help your bruises and cuts." She showed it to him, and Remus nodded in permission. Lily got to work applying the substance to all the injuries that she could see. Remus and James knew Lily was smart enough to realize that most of the injuries were already healing, and had been there before they were thrown into the compartment. But Lily didn't question it, and the two boys were thankful.

"So do you just, uh, carry that stuff around in case of emergencies or something?" James poked her with his foot gently as he questioned her.

"Not exactly." She answered, but James didn't have as much tact as Lily and prodded her with his foot a second time hoping for more information. Lily angrily swatted his foot away. "I just carry it around out of habit, Potter," she said, her voice rising once again.

"Alright, alright. No need to get so upset, Evans."

"James..." Remus interjected, as Lily opened up her mouth to retort. "Sometimes we just say 'thank you' and bask in the luck of it all."

"Luck?" Said James, turning to face his friend. "What in any of this is lucky? You couldn't even stand right now if you tried." And then, miraculously, the lights turned on.

Lily jumped up to test the door. "Dammit! Still locked" She was about to try kicking it when James called to her

"Hey Evans, why don't you try your wand?" And instead of giving her a chance to try, James whipped out his own and said "_Alohamora_". Nothing happened.

"See?" Lily said childishly. Remus groaned but they both ignored him.

"Better than kicking."

"I never kicked it!"

"But you were going to- oh don't give me that look you were."

"I suppose now you can read minds and such. Can you guess what I'm thinking? Cause it involves you and some manticores."

"Bloody hell, Evans, punch a guy for trying to help."

"I might just take you up on that"

James was about to retort, but something about the look on Lily's face made him stop. He searched her for a moment, taking in her shaking clenched fists and thin lips. "What exactly are you so angry about Evans?"

"I'm _not_ angry. I'm are stuck in a cramped compartment, possibly under attack-"

"I thought we decided we aren't under attack."

"- with _you_ for company, no less, and I _can't bloody get this door open."_ She turned from him and grasped the handle again, shaking it.

James wasn't sure what to do but stare. Practical, talented, and intelligent Lily Evans had now taken to shouting at a locked door.

"There's nothing to be scared of, Lily. If we were under attack, we'd know by now."

"I'm not _scared_ I'm _irritated_ and I'm certainly not stupid so stop talking to me as if I'm some first year," but at his words she had taken her hands off from the door. James glanced at them, and noticed they were shaking slightly. Lily noticed too and quickly crossed her arms to hide them- cursing their feebleness.

"How much longer until we get to the castle, do you think?" asked Remus, hoping for a distraction.

"Dunno, reckon another half an hour at least. The train never stopped, far as I can tell." James replied

.  
"You're not in your robes, I guess you'll be in muggle attire for the feast."

"Some Slytherins probably will be too" he smirked "they'll love that."

The two continued their conversation, laughing at how Mulciber would most likely pitch a fit in the Entrance Hall. Eventually, Lily joined in with them, remarking how poor Ashley Puglett will cry about having to wear jeans to the feast instead of her classic too-short skirt.

"_I don't know, Ashley Puglett looks pretty fit in those jeans_."

Lily started at the familiar voice, belonging to their fellow sixth year, who was certainly not in the compartment with them.

"Padfoot!" James exclaimed, pulling out what looked like a small mirror from his pocket.

"Prongs, mate! How have you held up?"

"You spoke to him not twenty minutes ago, Sirius." Remus said, rolling his eyes.

"Moony! You're alive! James would have been so devastated if you died on his watch. I would have had to deal with his moping for days."

"I'm glad you'd be able to move on though, Pads."

"_What_ is going on?" asked a rather confused Lily, looking between Remus, Potter, and the small mirror held in his hand.

"Lily Flower! Were you shouting earlier?" Lily's eyes widened as she realized that Sirius Black's voice was in fact coming from the mirror.

"Padfoot, were you able to get in touch with Peter?" James interrupted.

"No, I don't think he managed to slip away like we hoped. But the conductor says that the head students should be around soon to unlock all the doors. There's this enchanted key, you see-"

"They knew about this? Why wouldn't they tell the prefects?" asked Lily, appalled.

"Didn't they? Ernie here said they were supposed to." Ernie was apparently the folk-singing conductor."Must have slipped their minds" Lily muttered darkly. Remus just shook his head, and now it was James' turn to look angry.

They waited another five minutes, listening to Sirius' jabbering nonsense, until Galina Gavin herself opened up their door. Remus tried to sit up further to glare, but barely managed the glaring part. Lily stood in front of the head girl, arms crossed and eyes narrowed.

"What do you think you're playing at Galina? We know you were supposed to tell us about the test." She felt James come stand behind her. "You've no right to override Dumbledore's orders. That was a seriously dangerous stunt and if you think-"

"Pause the lecture, Evans. Don't you think it was more authentic this way?" The head girl smirked.

"I think you're going to have a hard time controlling the prefects once they realize you've crowned yourself supreme dictator." As Lily spoke, she thought she felt something warm brush her arm, and a split second later, Galina Gavin's hair was bright pink, eyebrows and all. Not trusting herself to speak, Lily forced herself to angrily glare at the Slytherin, who was giving some witless remark. When Lily didn't retort the head girl smirked and turned to unlock the other compartment. Lily finally let out a guffaw of laughter and turned around to face the two boys. To her surprise it was Remus and not Potter who had his wand out.

"Frigid bitch." was all he said before leaning his head against the wall again. James sat down next to him and found some more chocolate in one of Remus' pockets.

"Nice one, mate. Though I would have gone for turning her hair into slugs myself."

"Well she definitely would have noticed that, I'm hoping no one will tell her for a bit."

"_Oy, what's going on?" _came Sirius' voice again.

"You'll find out, Padfoot." James put the mirror away and instead turned to say something to Lily. "He—"

"I should go check on the younger students, make sure Galina actually told them we were never under attack." She awkwardly backed out of the compartment, keeping eye contact with Potter. He was staring at her in a similar way that he had looked at the injured Remus, but muddled with confusion. He was about to warn her about walking around alone in the chaos, but she was gone before he got the chance, leaving behind the small potion bottle she had been using on Remus. He watched the spot where she had disappeared for a moment, before turning back to his injured friend. Remus was watching him.

"What?" asked James, slightly annoyed.

"Nothing. I just realized that that was the first time I heard Lily Evans' name since before break," Remus said, frowning.

"So?" asked as scowling James.

"Just… didn't realize before." The look Remus was giving James, as if he knew something James didn't, was very irritating.


	3. Waning

A/N: Sorry for the long wait. I've been working on future chapters (like way future chapters), getting myself distracted. I made some very minor changes to the last two chapters before adding this, in case anyone wanted to check that out. (Also, how does one find a Beta nowadays?)

Enjoy!

* * *

Rats have excellent hearing. They're pretty fast too, as Peter Pettigrew realized early in his fifth year. These two traits, combined with the rather small size of the rodent, enabled Peter Pettigrew to learn the secrets of just about everyone in the school. It was because of Peter that the marauders new that there was an entire corridor on the fourth floor that had been cemented shut (except for a small hole in the wall) for the past half century. It had also been Peter that brought them to the attention of Professor Bulstrode's habit of losing card games to Filch and Professor Flitwick.

Peter also knew that Carmen Hallister's favorite pair of lingerie has teddy bears on it, but that piece of intel he had kept to himself.

When Sirius had told Remus' secret to Snape, Peter had spent most of his free time in his rat form, roaming the castle and avoiding the awkwardness of Gryffndor tower and the wrath of his roommates. During that month, Peter realized the serenity of remaining a small animal for hours on end; his animagus brain eventually became numb to the complex thoughts of his human one. Instead of trying to figure out when James was going to get over Sirius' lapse in judgement, he could venture into the Hufflepuff dormitories and sleep on someone's pillow until the occupants of the room took note of him. Alternatively, he could sneak into a Professor's office and get the answers to the next quiz, any office besides Mcgonnagal's was fair game.

After the chaos on the train, Peter had been unable to find his friends and so decided that he would begin roaming the castle early this year. He didn't want to miss the feast, but he had been on the first carriage that had left Hogsmeade and had a good twenty minutes before his friends questioned his whereabouts. With the goal of giving Filch a good run around, Wormtail set off sniffing about for the scent of grime and cat. Unfortunately, the caretaker spent so much time in the castle that his smell was almost identical to that of the walls.

Not two minutes into his search for Filch, the rat could feel Peter slipping to the back of his mind and Wormtail taking over. Sweet aromas drifting from the kitchens reached his nose, and the rat suddenly realized how stupid he was searching for Filch when there was food to be found. One scent drew him in more than any of the others, a thick, musty scent that smelled something like roast pork. Wormtail's nose twitched in anticipation, and by the time he had decided to search for the source of the smell, his tiny legs had already started to take him there. Wormtail only had to go up one flight of stairs before finding the source of the tantalizing aroma.

If he had been Peter, he would have questioned why such a heavenly scented piece of meat was lying on the stone floor two stories above the Hogwarts kitchens. If he had been Peter, he might have questioned why the large pile of charred red was on the floor at all. If he had been Peter, he wouldn't have had to be less than four inches away from the mass to recognize the one splash of white on the body as a large, unseeing eyeball, staring right at the him.

It was Peter-not Wormtail- that let out a high-pitched scream that shook the suits of armor and portraits hanging on the second floor.

Peter ran as fast as his stubby legs would carry him down the stairs to the Entrance Hall, tripping down the last few steps and almost knocking over Professor McGonagall in his haste.

"Mr. Pettigrew! What are you doing, running about the castle right before the sorting. You know I'm not above taking points-What-" Professor Mcgonagall took a step back as Peter doubled over, pale and sweating, and emptied out the massive amount of sweets he had eaten on the train on the floor, barely missing Professor Mcgonagall's robes.

"My dear boy! What is- what has happened to you?" Professor McGonagall cautiously stepped towards the short round boy shaking in front of her. Peter heaved air in and out, unable to make his lips do much else.

"Someone's been murdered."

* * *

"Said something about a fire too-"

"- been murdered or if they've-_?"_

"- still here?"

_"_ -was a student-"

James had never seen news get around the student body so fast. In the time it took for Professor Mcgonagall to cross the hall to the dais where Professor Dumbledore sat, every student had whispered to the student next to them about the alleged dead body on the second floor.

"We haven't even been here twenty minutes, it couldn't be a student, could it?" Remus asked, eyes wide.

"Do you see any professors missing?" Sirius muttered darkly.

"Where's Peter?" James was scanning the room anxiously. He had seen Evans comforting a teary eyed first year towards the back of the hall, and the majority of the rest of Gryffindors in their year were in the seats beside them. Peter hadn't been seen since the beginning of the train ride.

"I'm sure he's around here somewhere." Sirius replied, but he too began scanning the crowd.

"James, there wouldn't have been time for a student-"

"It doesn't take more than a second." he replied shortly. James stood on the bench to see over the bustling students.  
"_Dammit_, Pete, this is not the time-"

Four loud cracks followed flashes of blue light and the students silenced.

"Thank you." Professor Dumbledore had stood from his seat and his sharpened eyes were surveying the students before him. James could see that the headmaster's wand remained in his hand. _We might still be in danger, then. _

"We have suffered a great tragedy, that is for certain. Beyond that, we have only our own questions and fears. I ask that you each find the strength within yourselves and from each other to remain calm as your professors and I tend to this very serious matter. For now the Great Hall shall be your haven- be comforted that you are well guarded in this room both by protective charms and by well trained ministry personnel." He nodded at the dozen or so men and women that wore ministry patches on their dark robes who were standing by every door leading from the Great Hall. "If the head boy and girl will come to me please." A shaking Stefan and stony faced Galina pushed through the crowd of students to the dais where the teachers usually sat, and listened as Professor Dumbledore gave them whispered instructions.

"They're going to have us on lock down. As if it's not likely someone in this room is the murderer." James put his hand on Sirius' shoulder to keep him from speaking further. A second year behind them had gasped at his whispered words.

Turning away from the Heads, Dumbledore cleared his throat, as if to get attention from the staring and unmoving students before him, and solemnly began to speak.

"You have all had a long journey, dinner will commence shortly." And with that, Professor Dumbledore exited the Great Hall, trailed by Professors Mcgonagall, Slughorn, Flitwick, and Paddles.

"_Prefects will be coming around to do a roll call."_ Galina's voice could barely be heard over the murmur that had started as soon as the doors had closed.

She continued shouting instructions, and James registered that the remaining professors had left the dais and had moved to join the students, comforting those who had started to cry. But James was too distracted to pay attention to what Galina was saying.

"We need a diversion." He whispered to Sirius.

Sirius raised his eyebrows, "You want to go check on what's going on upstairs? I don't think even one of our feats can distract the aurors at every exit."

"No, I need to check the map. There's still no sign of Peter."

"Do you think that the dead body will show on the map? I mean, it shows ghosts, so.."

"You don't need the map." James snapped his head around to find a pale Peter standing behind them, not quite meeting anyone's eyes. "I can tell you who it was." Peter swayed slightly on the spot, and James stood to grab his shoulders and steady him.

"You saw it then?" asked Sirius. But Despite Peter's mouth opening and closing, no sound came out.

"Pete, _look at me."_ James said softly, "Are you- are you hurt, or-" Peter shook his head.

"It was awful. Just so horrible."

"Take my seat. I'm going to see if Madame Pomfrey is around."

"She gave me a potion already. Mcgonagall sent me to her for-for shock or something." His eyes were now darting nervously from person to person in the hall, hands fidgeting with his robes.

James stared at his friend, unsure of what to say. James had seen many dead bodies before, even a few of people he cared for. But he had never seen one outside of a casket, without being surrounded by flowers and friends.

"Pete-"

Food suddenly appeared on the tables before them. It was a mark of the seriousness of the situation that none of the boys neither realized nor cared.

"Lupin! What are you doing?" Galina had found the group. Remus jumped at the sound of his name, and begrudgingly swung his legs over the bench.

"I have some chocolate left, Pete." Remus handed over a handful of wrapped Honeydukes finest. "I'll find you all as soon as I can." He turned to leave.

"Wait, Moony!" James reached over the table to grab Remus' arm. "Can you just- I mean, can you check, can you make sure that-" he ran his hand through his hair and glanced to his right, "Evans just seemed a bit shaken on the train."

"I'll talk to her, Prongs." Remus nodded at him and made his way towards where the red head was standing few yards away, taking the names of a group of fourth years.

"Who was it, Wormtail?" Sirius pushed a glass of pumpkin juice towards him.

"I wouldn't have been able to recognize him, but Mcgonagall knew right away. Called him Marcus Higgins. I think he was supposed to be-"

"Our next defense professor. Of course." Sirius said darkly.

"What do you mean, 'of course'? Did Higgins have a death threat against him or something?" asked James.

"Not exactly, but it makes sense, doesn't it? I mean, we've always heard that the position's cursed. Six years we've been here and four professors we've had already. One died in his sleep at the age of sixty, another decided he'd rather study _kelp_ in Ireland, and Professor Shelp had to retire because his Spattergroit was so bad. Spattergroit is severely contagious, but no one in the castle had it and he hadn't left the school all year. "

James shook his head. "There's a big difference between changing careers or getting sick and getting flat out murdered. This is bigger than all of that, Pads."

"Cooked." Said a quiet voice. The two dark haired boys turned to their friend.

"Err, what was that, Wormtail?"

"He wasn't j-ju-just m-murdered, he was... cooked. "

Sirius and James exchanged a look.

"Uh, Pete," Sirius started, trying to sound gentle, "when you say cooked what exactly do you mean?"

Peter nervously began fiddling with his robes again, eyes shifting from face to face.

"I-I c-could smell it. It was b-b-burned." At that moment his eyes locked on the steaming ham that laid untouch in front of them, eyes as wide as the silver plates on the table.

James clenched his jaw, watching his friend sit unmoving, except for his trembling hands. This was _Hogwarts_ they were talking about. Last year there had been two Aurors that patrolled the grounds now and then. Tonight, James had seen nearly twenty, half inside and half outside the hall. Twenty ministry trained dark wizard catchers standing watch, and a teacher had been brutally murdered without even _one_ suspecting a disturbance. Although the Great Hall was just as bright and colorful as it always was during the Welcome Feast, James felt as if he was merely in a painted cell, just as dark as the world he had thought he'd left.

A half hour later, Dumbledore returned, announcing that the heads of houses would accompany students to their common rooms after a brief sorting ceremony. During the process, James kept glancing at Peter, hoping his friend would show some sign of being aware of the goings on around him. But Peter only continued to stare at the ham, looking pale and sickly.

After the sorting, Dumbledore stood in front of them all again.

"Marcus Higgins... was a kinda and noble man. After a long career in the Department of Spell Development, he wished to have the chance to impart knowledge and inspiration in the young minds at his own school. He has died tonight, before he was able to help each of you as he had hoped to do. But his life was dedicated to helping students in ways he could never witness. Let his death remind us all of the importance of spending our short time here un afraid of helping the person standing next to us, as well as those we can not see." Silence echoed through the hall as Dumbledore nodded at the heads of houses, who marched to the back of the hall and began to usher students out.

* * *

Lily had nothing to do but stare at the fire. It seemed no one had wanted to linger in the common room after supper, preferring the comfort of his or her own bed. But Lily couldn't sleep, and she didn't fancy listening to her roommates theorize and lament about today's event. In the hall, Lily had been focused on what she knew she had to do as an older student and prefect. But now...

Now she had finally sat after an hour of pacing, wishing she could find an excuse to talk to Professor Mcgonagall or Dumbledore or _anyone_ that might be able to give her answers, or at the very least give her orders.

A sharp creak made her start, and Lily jumped up from the couch, pulling out her wand.

"S'all right, it's just me."

Lily let out the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding, but gave James a sharp look.

"What are you doing down here?" She meant to whisper it, but it came out closer to a shout.

"I, er, expected the common room to be empty, for one. What are _you_ doing down here?"

Lily let out a frustrated sigh. "Absolutely nothing. Nothing _to_ do, is there? No homework, or..." She drifted off, but James nodded, understanding that it wasn't homework she was wishing for.

They stood in silence for a while, both consumed by their own thoughts.

Eventually, James cleared his throat.

"You should try and get to bed. Staying up isn't going to make tomorrow any easier." He gave her a small smile, but she narrowed her eyes at him.

"You never said why you came down here. "

"Just... wanted to be alone, ya know?" James tried do smile again, but Lily had only narrowed her eyes further.

"And your friends just let you wander off without them?"

He rolled his eyes. "I'm only in the common room, Evans."

"Don't bullshit me, Potter." She stood up so that her eyes were almost level with his and crossed her arms. "You were going to leave weren't you?" James opened his mouth to reply, but his usually adept lying skills failed him under Lily's fiery gaze and he could only emit a gurgling "_err_".

Lily huffed and her hands went to her waist, a pose James had seen numerous times before.

"I can't _believe_ that tonight of all nights you can't resist _galavanting_ about-"

"I am _not_ galavanting! And it's none of your-"

"_It bloody well is my business I AM A PREFECT and you-"_

"_Prefect,_" James scoffed, "and that gives you the right to bloody shout at me in the middle of the night does it?"

"I am _not_ shouting! And it bloody well does, and that is _not_ the point!"

"And what _is_ the point of you waking up the entire tower, Evans?"

"Because your _giant head_ is going to get you _killed,_ Potter. Are you hoping that roaming around at night you'll bump into the culprit and be able to save the day? Don't be so god damn stupid, Potter."

James' red face contorted and he took a step forward so that he and Lily were hardly a foot apart, and James could see every goddamn freckle on her face. For a moment they only stood there, Lily waiting for James' angry retort; James too furious to do anything but glare.

"_Fuck this,_ Evans. Do you know who _found_ the body tonight? Or has that piece of information not reached your ears all the way up on your pedestal?"

Lily's eyes got wide. "But… you were in the Great Hall before Mcgonagall got in, I saw you."

James shook his head. "Not me, Peter."

"Is he alright?" She asked quickly.

"He's shaken, but he's going to be fine. And before you ask, he doesn't know anything the rest of us don't."

"I wasn't going to." Lily said, although admittedly she had hoped James could tell her something useful.

There was another moments silence before Lily added, "But I still don't understand. What are you doing now that has to do with Peter?"

"Madame Pomfrey gave him something for the shock, but he still can't get to sleep. I was going to nick a sleeping potion."

"Oh. You should have just said."

"Evans, come on-"

"No, I mean… just wait here a moment."

Lily dashed up the stairs to the girls dormitory, trying to be as silent as possible. _That's twice I've shouted at him today, s_he thought as she made her way up to the sixth year girls' room. _Maybe I've just gotten into the habit._ When she opened the door she was relieved to see that all of the curtains were drawn around each bed, meaning the occupants were either sleeping or pretending to sleep. She crossed to her own bed, the only one untouched, and opened up her bag that she had thrown precariously onto her trunk a few hours before, rummaging around until she felt a small round vial. She wasn't going to sleep tonight anyway.

When she reached the common room, she thought for a moment that James had left and felt her stomach sink in disappointment. But a moment of her eyes adjusting to the dark allowed her to see a shadowy figure standing by the window. She made her way over to him unnoticed.

"The curtain is shut, what are you looking at?" She asked, amused.

James jumped at her voice, and looked embarrassed as he answered, "You can see the moon from the slight part here." He gestured to where the ends of the two red curtains did not quite meet. "It was full yesterday."

Lily inched closer to him to look outside. "It's… beautiful." She whispered, a little unsure.

"A little foreboding, I was thinking" James said, turning to look at her.

Lily looked outside again. The night was dark and cloudless, but from the small portion of the sky they could see, there were no stars. No owls flew over the grounds to give the life to the night, and no wind swept through the trees. Everything was still.

"Did you know that a waning moon is supposed to give you clarity? A deeper look into your own subconscious." James said, looking out the window again.

"I heard waning moons are perfect for powerful banishing spells. If you ever want to make a dragon disappear, just wait till the waning crescent." James chuckled and turned his back to the window, leaning against the wall.

"Trying to think of ways to get rid of me, Evans?" He asked, eyebrows raised.

"Please. I wouldn't need the help of the moon for that." She smiled and held out her hand. "Sleeping potion, for Peter."

"You had this in your room?"

Lily shuffled her feet uncomfortably. "I get bored over the summer holidays sometimes" she lied.

"And that's why you had the healing salve for Remus, is it?" James asked, clearly not convinced by her muttering.

"Exactly."

"Alright, then."


	4. Operation Cod Fish

To her surprise, Lily managed to sleep almost a full four hours after leaving Potter in the Common Room. September second rose with no clouds in sight and with birds chirping, cheerfully oblivious to the events that had transpired the night before. The castle was quiet as Lily woke, early enough to see the last rims of orange disappear beyond the horizon, and for a time Lily simply lay on her bed, listening to her own heart beating and the familiar cadence of snores and whistling that she had grown to love over the past five years.

Five years ago to the minute, Lily had laid in the same spot, wide awake and eyes round with anticipation. Eleven year old Lily had barely been able to keep herself from squealing with delight at the thought of finally being able to formally practice the magic she had spent the past few years experimenting with. Just like that day, Sophie Abbot was lying asleep in the bed next to Lily's, snoring peacefully. Sophie had been the first Gryffindor girl Lily had ever spoken to at Hogwarts, and they had spent the entire Welcome Feast discussing everything from the floating candles to the real-life ghosts that they could have full on conversations with. At first, Lily had assumed that Sophie was a muggleborn, like herself, but the small blonde girl eventually explained that her witch mother had died when she was only four, and she had been raised by her muggle father.

For a while, Lily thought that Sophie was going to be her best friend in Gryffindor. But then, Sophie found Cammie, and Snape had 'accidentally' tripped Sophie, and then Cammie tried (and failed) to hex Snape for it, and the room was awkward for about a week. Thankfully, Marlene got tired of the awkwardness and decided that the entire room needed some bonding. And while the usual gossiping and games of exploding snap ensued, Marlene _had_ meant actual bonding, and had used a spell forcing all five of the Gryffindor girls to remain within six feet of each other at all times (making trips to the bathroom rather difficult).

The memory used to make her laugh, but when Lily turned to look at the bed on her left, it only left her with a hollow feeling in the pit of her stomach. Early July, Lily had received a tear soaked letter from Marlene explaining that Jasmine Lowe, who had spent bonding night in fits of laughter trying to see what would happen if she jumped on the bed too far from the other girls, would not be returning to Hogwarts. After the death of her uncle, Jasmine's mother had decided that England was not a safe place for their family, and took Jasmine and her two younger brothers to America to study at Salem.

_Part of me is just so furious with Jasmine for agreeing to go, _Marlene had written, _but now I'm wondering why the rest of us haven't followed Mrs. Lowe's lead. Dumbledore might be the most powerful wizard there is, but that doesn't mean he can protect everyone all the time. _

Lily had replied that she fervently believed Hogwarts to be the safest place for everyone, and that it was without a doubt the best place to learn how to defend ones self. After yesterday, did she still think the same way?

"Bit depressing that they'd just keep the thing here, isn't it?" Lily jolted as she heard Marlene's voice from behind her. The tall sixth year was leaning against one of Lily's bed posts, black hair thrown in a messy bun and eyes slightly red so that Lily wasn't sure if it was from being tired or if she had been crying. She was staring at the bed wistfully, and Lily imagined that Marlene was also remembering their friend's obnoxious laugh and tendency to lose her shoes.

"Maybe they think she'll be back," Lily said, doubtfully.

"Dumbledore's more of an optimist than I thought," Marlene scoffed.

"I think we saw enough evidence of that last night." Marlene went pale at Lily's words. Lily hadn't done much the night before besides say hello to her friends before leaving them for the quiet of the common room, so Lily and Marlene had yet to discuss the previous night's events.

"He looked angry when Mcgonagall told him," she sat on the edge of Lily's bed as she spoke, arms wrapped tight against her body, glancing between Lily and the empty bed next to them, " I don't think I've ever seen him genuinely angry before."

"Nor have I. At first I thought, because of what happened on the train, and all the Aurors-"

"That they were expecting an attack," Marlene nodded.

"But he didn't even mention You-Know-Who afterwards. For the past three years he's made sure to mention him, to make us aware and to prepare us, but last night of all nights he doesn't even mention that Higgins' death was a _murder_."

"It is strange… Maybe he was just too distracted, I heard that the body was pretty gruesome." Lily thought back to what Potter had said about poor Peter and cringed.

"Dumbledore, distracted? No.. I think.. well, maybe…" Lily looked tentatively up at Marlene. Marlene, who believed that seventh year Ashton Marvel was an experiment by the ministry to see how easily girls could become distracted from their studies. Marlene, who once set free all the frogs from the transfiguration room 'just in case they had been transfigured humans'. Marlene wouldn't laugh at her theory.

"What if Dumbledore doesn't believe that this has to do with You-Know-Who? Everyone just _assumed_ that it had to do with _him_ and with the war, but what if this is completely unrelated?" Marlene's eyes widened slightly, but to Lily's relief, she did not laugh.

"Who could it have been then? A teacher? Surely you don't think it was a student?"

"It could have been anyone. We don't know when he died, do we? We don't know _anything._" Lily sighed and turned to look out the window. Over an hour had passed since she had woken, which meant the Great Hall would soon be filling up with fresh eggs and perfectly cooked bacon. "Maybe Dumbledore will say something at breakfast."

"I doubt it. You heard what Mcgonagall said last night."

Professor Mcgonagall had lead the Gryffindor students to their tower, wand out and stony faced, at the end of the not so festive Welcome Feast. Once everyone had returned and the prefects had done a final head count, she had turned to address her students.

_"We are all in shock after what has transpired tonight. You would do well to heed Professor Dumbledore's words and lean on each other for support. Marcus Higgins' death will be investigated by the ministry, but I suggest you put it out of your minds. Your time at Hogwarts should be spent studying hard and…" _she had paused to clear her voice_ "making friendships and memories." _

She had said no more, despite some of the older students shouting out questions.

"They can't tell us _nothing_. I mean, at the very least, it will be in _The Prophet, _won't it?" But although Lily spoke with hope in her voice, Marlene could see the doubt in her eyes.

* * *

Once the rest of the sixth year girls were awake and dressed, the four of them followed each other to the Great Hall to have their fill of egg and sausage, and to get their sixth-year time tables. Chatting along the way, Lily learned that Sophie had unexpectedly earned eight O. , including an Exceeds Expectations in Astronomy. Not so unexpectedly, Lily had earned nine O. , although she had only earned an Exceeds Expectations in Astronomy.

The Great Hall was as full and loud as it had been the night before. Lily guessed that then entire school had shown up with the same hopes as her, that they would get more information on what had happened to Marcus Higgins. Unfortunately for everyone, Dumbledore's seat was the only empty one on the dais.

Lily was sincerely trying to listen to what her friends were talking about. She truly wanted to know why Cammie was so upset over something about Care of Magical Creatures, and why Sophie was talking so much faster than usual. But back in the Great Hall, all she could think about was Dumbledore's face as he had discussed the death of a teacher they had never gotten to meet.

"…isn't that right, Lily?" Marlene was elbowing her.

"Of course!" Lily said quickly. Cammie and Sophie continued talking, appeased, but Marlene gave her a questioning look. Lily only shrugged in response. Focusing was not in her cards today.

Ten minutes later, the missing sixth year Gryffindors strolled in, minus one, and sat right down next to the four girls. Lily groaned as Potter sat across from her, but tried to smile at Remus in the seat next to him.

"So what do you boys think? Reckon that sixth year's going to make us all mad?" Marlene asked, passing the jug of pumpkin juice.

"Why's that?" Remus asked curiously.

"NEWT work, obviously. And we start non-verbals this year, too," she replied.

"Non-verbals are nothing, once you get the hang of them," Jame said, spreading jam over his toast.

Lily made a derisive snort but Sophie said excitedly, "You can do nonverbal spells already?"

"Well, he can make things explode without saying anything. Not sure if those count, Prongs." Sirius patted James on the back. The boys laughed as James made a face at Sirius and the girls smiled, unsure whether or not he was joking. Remus muttered something to Sirius that Lily thought mentioned something exploding again, and the two boys burst out laughing, causing James to frown.

Sophie, Cammie and Marlene went back to discussing Care of Magical Creatures, and Remus and Sirius continued their whispered back and forth with interludes of barking laughter from Sirius, which Lily was pretty sure was mostly to annoy Potter.

To her dismay, that meant Potter was left with only her to talk to.

"Still going to take Ancient Runes, Evans?" He asked, leaning over the table to make sure she could hear him. She leaned back.

"I think so." Only students with an Outstanding O.W.L were allowed to continued to NEWT level of Ancient Runes. Lily had earned the score, and Professor Garcia had sent her a note saying she was one of only four other students who had accomplished the feat in the entire year. Unfortunately, she was rather certain James Potter was one of the other four.

"You _think_ so? Don't tell me you haven't gotten your scores yet? Not that you have anything to worry about."

"I have my scores." _Why did he have to bother her _this_ early in the morning?_

"Then what's the problem?" he asked, ruffling his hair.

"I don't have a problem," said Lily, raising an eyebrow.

"I didn't mean you _have a problem," _ he leaned back and put his hand to his hair again, "why don't you just say '_yes'?"_

_"Because," _ Lily started, putting down her fork, "I'm not sure yet."

"_How could you not be sure, though?"_ James' voice had risen slightly, in volume and pitch, and Remus and Sirius had stopped their whispering to watch. "We're setting our time tables in _two minutes!" _He put up two fingers, as if to emphasize the point.

"I _have_ made up my mind." Lily turned away from him, hoping to join in her friends' conversation, but Potter continued to gape at her.

"SO?"

"If you're going to act so harsh I'd appreciate if you'd at least keep down your voice, Potter."

"I'm only asking-"

"I don't _know _if I'm going to be taking Ancient Runes yet because it's not only our O.W.L score that matters. We also need permission from both our head of house _and_ the professor of the subject. So _no, _I do _not_ know whether or not I am taking Ancient Runes. And by the way, neither do you. "

Sirius chuckled and Lily was pretty sure she saw Remus kick him under the table.

"Professor Garcia loves me." James said, grabbing a piece of toast.

"Bully for Professor Garcia." Lily also took a piece of toast, turning away from Potter to force Marlene to talk to her.

Ten minutes later, Professor Mcgonagall had reached their seats and began to check their time tables.

"No, I'm sorry Miss Moreston, Care of Magical Creatures can't be taken if you wish to continue with Muggle Studies. The sixth year classes are at the same time, just like I told you last year." Lily thought Professor Mcgonagall sounded as if she had a head cold. Cammie pouted and took her time table from Professor Mcgonagall, and then set off for first period Charms with Sophie. Marlene set off as soon as she got her time table as well, and Lily sat waiting for her turn as Potter received his own.

"I was pleased with your Transfiguration marks, Mr. Potter. Very pleased. And Professor Garcia wished for me to express her congratulations as well. " James smirked, looking directly at Lily, who rolled her eyes and pulled apart her toast. Typically, Potter was taking the same six subjects as her.

"Professor, Peter Pettigrew was feeling ill this morning and we thought it best that he get some rest before classes."

At James' words, Sirius leaned closer to Lily and whispered, "_That potion of yours worked a little _too_ well. We could barely make him get up to shower this morning."_ Lily stifled a giggled at the image of the three marauders attempting to drag a snoring Peter to the bath.

Professor Mcgonagall nodded solemnly, "Let Mr. Pettigrew know that if he is too ill to attend classes today, I can write a note to his professors." The four Gryffindors were surprised at the condoning of skyving off classes by their usually stern head of house, but James accepted the offered time table graciously, and Mcgonagall turned to Lily.

"Miss Evans, excellent marks as usual. Professor Garcia wished for me to express her congratulations to you as well. Keep this work up, and I'll be recommending you as Head Girl without reservations." Lily could have sworn she saw Professor Mcgonagall smile at her. For a moment, she was too stunned to speak- Head Girl had been a dream in the back of her mind since first year- but after shaking her head and thanking Professor Mcgonagall, she sat up tall and looked the deputy headmistress straight in the eye before doing what she had resolved to do on the way down to breakfast.

"Professor Mcgonagall, I think it would really help if students were made aware of any progress on the investigation of Mr. Higgins' death," she said in one breath. James, Sirius, and Remus all stared at her before looking up eagerly to see Professor Mcgonagall's response. Professor Mcgonagall looked surprised as well, and for a moment, Lily worried that she was about to be shouted at by a professor for the first time in her life. But then, Professor Mcgonagall seemed to relax her shoulders, and she gave Lily a sad, too understanding look.

"I understand that last night must have been very frightening, Miss Evans-"

"No, I mean, that's not why-"

"-but this is a ministry matter now. And ministry investigations are kept secret, for good reason." James snorted derisively at this, and Professor Mcgonagall pursed her lips, glaring at him.

"Er… sorry. It's just that,_ The Prophet_ reports pretty regularly about ministry investigations, don't they?" James said, looking between Lily and Professor Mcgonagall.

"That's right!" exclaimed Lily. "And half of the time, _The Prophet_ is convoluted with bias and ministry propganda. Students will be hearing the story, but they'll be getting _The Prophet_'s messed up ideas about what actually happened." Professor Mcgonagall opened her mouth to speak, but Lily pushed on. "Besides, it's not _purely_ a ministry investigation, is it? Professor Dumbledore is going to be helping as well. And-" Lily wasn't sure what else she wanted to say- and it wasn't _fair_ that the students weren't allowed to know anything, and this was their home and they should know what was happening in it, and…"And it's important to know the truth," she finished, attempting to sound emphatic and sure of her own words.

Professor Mcgonagall sighed again, putting her hand up to her hair as if to fix her perfectly wrapped bun. "I am _sorry, _Miss Evans, but Professor Dumbledore will decide what he thinks is best for students to know. In the meantime, take your time table," she held it out and Lily took it dejectedly, " and _go to Charms." _Professor Mcgonagall turned away to discuss Remus' time table, but Lily couldn't let it end there.

"What about the prefects, Professor?" Lily asked. Professor Mcgonagall closed her eyes as if praying for patience, and turned to Lily once more.

"What _about_ the prefects, Miss Evans?"

"Are we going to be able to do more rounds of the castle? To help increase protection." Perhaps it was the desperate look on Lily's face, or the fact that Professor Mcgonagall had had as little sleep last night as Lily herself, but she did not look angry and only seemed _slightly_ frustrated, watching the sixth year with what Lily thought might have been pity.

"No, Miss Evans. The Aurors will take care of that." She said 'Aurors' as if she doubted their ability to catch a goat in a cage. "If you'd truly like more prefect duties, I suggest you speak to the head boy and girl." And with a note of finality, she turned to Remus and ran down his list of classes.

Lily tapped her fingers on the table, toast lying destroyed on her plate, and glanced around the hall for a distraction. Potter was staring at her. She glared at him, grabbed her books, and stalked out of the Great Hall.

_If the students weren't going to be given information freely, they'd just have to take it._

* * *

"Thank Merlin Mcgonagall didn't decide extra prefect duties was a good idea. I'd have _killed_ Lily." Remus took a last bite of sausage before standing with his two friends.

"Hmmm?" James mumbled, tearing his eyes away from the door through which the red head in question had just exited. "Did you say something about, Evans, Moony?" Sirius rolled his eyes and slapped James on the back.

"Snap out of it, mate, you're drooling." James shoved Sirius, who only laughed. Remus rolled his eyes.

"I'm gonna go give Pete his schedule, in case he decides to come down. Be in charms when I get there, yeah?."

Once Remus had left, Sirius grabbed a handful of sausage and the two remaining marauders made their way to the Charms Corridor.

"You know, Evans had some good points." James said, watching Sirius stuff his face with three or four sausages.

"Abou pwefes?" James had to wipe off a piece of meat that had flown onto his robes.

"Gross, Padfoot. No, about the students having the right to know what's going on here. I mean, think of all the first years whose first impression of Hogwarts is that a Professor can get burned alive here without anyone knowing who did it."

"Well, technically, their first impression would have been the lake, and then seeing the castle at night, and then Mcgonagall's face, and then Wormtail's vomit.."

"And then hearing about a dead body on the second floor." As they walked, James could see that the first and second years seemed to be sticking together in clusters of ten or even twelve students- as if walking in a group meant that Voldemort wouldn't be able to see them. In fact, it seemed not even the older students dared walk the Hogwarts corridors by themselves. James shook his head in disbelief, _no one should be scared to be at Hogwarts._

"Are you suggesting we do a little digging?" asked Sirius, grinning.

"I'm not sure yet. But I think I'll be keeping the cloak on me from now on."

Sirius' grin widened. "We've never snuck into Dumbledore's office before," James couldn't help but grin at the excited expression on Sirius' face.

"This seems like a good time to figure out how."

The charms classroom was as cheerful as always, and on the first day back there were squeals with delight as friends from other houses who hadn't seen each other before hand hugged and exchanged greetings. It seemed as if nearly the entire year had decided to continue with Charms for NEWT level. James took his usual seat between Sirius and Lily, and watched as Ravenclaw Isabelle Tunkins positively screamed as she hugged her Hufflepuff friend Shannon Doyle. He noticed Lily rubbing her temples, and was about to ask her if she was alright, only to be distracted by Remus walking into the classroom trailed by a slow moving Peter.

"He lives!" Sirius exclaimed. Peter grimaced at his choice of words. "Cmon' Pete, cheer up. Listen, we're in the Charms classroom, I don't think anyone would frown on us casting a little cheering charm on you." Sirius waved his hand around, mimicking the wand movement for the spell.

"You know what, Sirius? I think we have potions after this. We could cook up a Euphoria Elixir there. What do you say, Wormtail?" James asked, looking excitedly up at Peter, who looked a little fearful.

"Although, that draft does tend to make Wormy sing, we'd have to make a deafening potion for the rest of us."

"What do you say, Wormtail? Fancy being around people who don't listen to you? And then in Transfiguration, we could-"

"I think I'm just gonna..mmph" Peter sat in his seat behind Sirius, and put his head on his arms.

"What a light-weight." said Sirius, shaking his head.

Professor Flitwick scuttled into class shouting hurried "Hello!"s and "Welcome back!"s. After congratulating them all on advancing to NEWT level, he gave a short lecture on the difficulty of the curriculum for the next two years and set them to work reviewing Summoning Charms, to be practiced for the first time non-verbally.

For the first few minutes, James watched as Sirius summoned various quills and ink bottles from a frantic looking Davey Hughes. James flicked his wand aimlessly, not thinking of any specific spell or charm. Instead, his mind was filled with plots and plans on how to best accomplish their new goal.

"We need a name," James said quietly.

"Hmmm?" mumbled Sirius, letting Hughes' glasses drop on an unsuspecting Hufflepuff.

"A name. For our new..er.. project." James glanced around them, making sure that no one was listening. Lily and Marlene were chatting as they waved their wands, and Holly Crumbles was concentrating so hard on not speaking that her face was turning purple.

"How about Operation Phoenix? Dumbledore has a bird, doesn't he?" Sirius leaned back in his chair, clearly bored with the Summoning Charm, and began to make torn pieces of parchment float in a ring above his head.

"Sounds more like we're forming a rock band. How about… the Transparency Defenders?"

"Sure, if you're starting a league of Wizengamot protestors." Sirius was pointing his wand behind him now, leading the string of paper two rows behind them, and then down towards the corner of the room,

"Fine." James watched the parchments' progress across the room. The two boys seemed to be the only ones who had noticed them. "But let's stay away from anything to do with slugs this time, okay?"

"You didn't mind slugs being in the name for the last two pranks we did." The papers stopped moving, and Sirius did a few final flicks with his wand.

"Yeah but you try and incorporate the name in everything we do. Last time we turned the Slytherin Common Room pink, you decided to leave slugs-"

There was a loud scream from the corner of the room. Severus Snape had jumped up from his seat, shouting and swatting at his hair where fourteen green, slimey, crawling bugs had just landed.

"-I couldn't get the muck out of my sheets for weeks," James finished. Half the room had erupted into laughter, although some of the people around Snape were similarly screaming. Professor Flitwick hurried over to Snape and made the dancing critters disappear from his head in one quick flourish of his wand. Snape was spluttering furiously and, unsurprisingly, was glaring at where James and Sirius sat. Flitwick attempted to calm him, but Snape practically pushed the dwarf away. He opened his mouth to shout-

"POTTER!"

-but the bell rang at the same moment, and Sirius and James ran out of the classroom before Flitwick could so much as look at them.

"What about Operation Cod Fish?" Sirius suggested as they slowed to a walk, a safe distance from the Charms classroom.

"_Cod Fish_? You're losing your mind, Padfoot. We used that one fourth year."

* * *

A/N: Thanks to everyone reading! hope you enjoyed the chapter. It's really important to me that I get some reviews, as a major reason why I'm writing this is to practice my writing, so notes on anything will be greatly appreciated!


	5. Plots and Hairbrushes

Lily Evans was clever and she knew it. Lily had no qualms about admitting that wit and intelligence were the qualities that she was most proud of, and she had quite the talent for managing to sound modest while doing so. She had the highest marks in the year, rivaled only by Janie Farens and James Potter, and was the best Potions student Professor Slughorn had taught in decades.

So why, in the name of Merlin's soggy pants, was this ruddy sheet of parchment still blank?

Classes had finished nearly three hours ago, and Lily had headed straight to the library to do some research. She had looked up invisibilty charms, silencing spells, befuddlement potions, veritiserum, and anything else that might help her in her task to figure out exactly what the ministry had learned from their investigation. She had plenty of _ideas_ about what she could do, from kidnapping Aurors to learning how to transfigure herself into a cat, but the plan never seemed to make it passed the first stage. Cursing herself for not thinking to become an animagus sooner, Lily threw down her quill (which she had yet to even dip in ink) and sighed loudly enough to earn glares from the group of Slytherins at the next table.

Plotting was not her forte.

Glancing around the library for inspiration, Lily's eyes briefly landed on a greasy-haired Severus Snape before darting away to instead watch a pair of second years attempting to turn eachothers' hair pink. So far the boy had managed to turn the girls' hair slightly lighter, but the boys own wavy locks remained jet black. Lily was forcefully reminded of a time when a certain slytherin's hair, including all body hair, was turned pink by a different dark haired boy. In fact, Lily could remember several times when either Black or Potter had turned something or other pink. At the same moment that she found herself wondering whether there was some sort of Marauder tradition that had to do with the color, the four Marauders themselves walked into the library. Lily groaned inwardly, praying that they'd get their books and leave, instead of causing another fight with Snape. It seemed that the boys were there to stay, however, as they sat at a table in the corner and put their heads together, whispering fervently.

_I bet_ they're_ plotting something. I bet they'll have at least five whole steps before I could even write down the first. _

Lily watched them curiously as they whipped out a thick piece of folded parchment and put their heads even closer together, so that whatever was written on it was blocked from Lily's view.

_They're probably just wasting their time planning some childish prank, too. When their talents could be used for so many better things. Like kidnapping Aurors. _

She felt the hairs on the back of her neck raise, and turned away from watching the four boys to look to her left, where Severus Snape was glaring holes into her head. Large, flaming, deep holes. Blushing, for some inexplicable reason, Lily turned back to her own sheet of parchment, only to be angered by the blankness that stared back at her. Throwing her books and quills into her bag, Lily decided that the library wa positively the _worst_ spot to plan a one-woman rebellion, and that that was why the Marauders always had such witless pranks. Instead, she decided to try the Common Room.

Unfortunately, people in the Common Room kept trying to talk to her, which under the circumstances was severely irritating. Lily made as little small talk as she could without being rude, before smiling and telling Marius Tarantino that she was simply _exhausted_ and she _must_ have a lie down before dinner. Taking the stairs to the girl's dormitory at a run, Lily opened the door to her room slightly out of breath, only to find every single one of her roommates sitting on their beds, staring at her.

"Er… hello?" she tried tentatively. Sophie gave her a weak smile, but Marlene continued to look slightly panicked. "Is everything alright?" she asked, nervous. Lily looked at each of her roommates in turn; Cammie looked as if she was trying to solve a very difficult puzzle, Marlene looked as if Peter Pettigrew had just asked her on a date, Sophie looked like she was pretending to enjoy a painful performance of Beethoven's Fifth, and the last girl-..wait…

"Oh! Er, hello?" This time Lily adressed the small, heart-faced blonde girl that was sitting on top of Jasmine's bed. _Or what used to be Jasmine's bed._ "Are you, um, are you a new student here?" The girl didn't say anything, and seemed to be trying to look anywhere besides at Lily. Lily watched as the girl rocked back and forth very slightly, biting on the sleeve of her robe and looking extremely anxious. Stunned, Lily took a cautious step towards the girl, only to be hit in the stomach by a flying hair brush. Lily hadn't seen any of the girls wave a wand, but she had a feeling she knew who was responsible. The blonde girl had looked at Lily with wide, buldging eyes as the brush had hit her, though still would not look anywhere near her face.

"Do you have a name?" Lily tried again, but the girl still did not speak. Lily took note of the gold and silver trunk that hadn't been in the room this morning, and saw that a black tail was sticking out from under the bed next to it. _Definitely moving in then. _

_"_My name's Lily. Lily Evans. I, err, sleep in the bed next to yours." She gestured to the four-poster bed, and the rocking girl followed with her eyes. "Do you mind if I go sit on it?" The girl didn't say anything, but no hair brushes flew towards Lily either, so she took it as a good sign and slowly made her way towards her own bed. As she did so, she thought she saw Marlene throw her a worried glance, as if frightened that if Lily took one step too many, it might mean a can of hairspray to the chest.

For a few minutes, the five Gryffindor girls sat in silence. Lily trying not to stare openly at her new bed-neighbor, and the rest of the girls making no such effort. Now that she was at her bed, Lily could see more clearly that what she had thought were intricate designs of gold flowers on the new trunk were actually a name written in cursive.

"Charlotte!" She exclaimed triumphantly. "Your name is Charlotte, isn't it?" Finally, the girl looked Lily straight in the eye, and Lily could have sworn she saw a small nod. Lily beamed. "Welcome to Hogwarts, Charlotte. It's lovely here. I'm sure wherever you studied before this was great, but Hogwarts is simply the best. I'm _so_ sure you'll come to love it." Charlotte looked away again, fixating on a spot on the wall. "Isn't that right, _Marlene_?"

"Uhh.. yeah! Absolutely. The best." Lily turned to glare accusingly at Marlene, who could only shake her head as if to say: "_I just have no fucking clue."_

_"_Are you hungry, Charlotte? Dinner will be starting soon, and if you haven't had the food here yet, you really should. It's simply divine. It's really, quite, er, lovely." Lily thought she heard Cammie snort. All of a sudden, Charlotte stood up and walked to the bathroom, shutting the door behind her. Cammie immediately burst into laughter, pushing a pillow to her face to stifle the sound.

"Oh, really, Cammie, there's no need to be _cruel." _Lily said, scowling.

"I'm-haha-sorry! I laugh in awkward situations," Cammie said apologetically, only to stuff her face into her pillow again.

"Do you think she's…." Sophie trailed off mid-sentence, waving her hands in the air as if hoping she would find a word to grab on to.

"Stable? Safe? A stowaway?" Marlene offered.

"_Marlene!_ That's an awf-" Lily paused, mid scolding. "Stowaway?"

"Yeah, hiding or on the run or something."

"We're not on a _boat_, for Merlin's sake. I think she's just a bit frightened." Lily pointed a finger at Marlene, "_Be nice."_

_"_I was being nice! I said she'd like the place, didn't I?"

"Marlene got hit with a book when she walked in," Sophie offered, "I think she said something along the lines of 'Who the ruddy hell are you?'" Marlene glared at Sophie, who turned to Lily expectantly. "Has Mcgonagall or anyone said anything to you about this-uh..her?"

Lily shook her head, "No, no one. And she definitely wasn't in any of our classes today. She wasn't at the feast yesterday either, because I had to help with roll call. There wasn't even a Charlotte to check off." All four girls jumped as they heard the bathroom door open, and Charlotte stood in the doorway chewing on her sleeves, as if waiting for instructions.

"Umm, would you like to go to dinner now, Charlotte?" Charlotte said nothing, but continued to stare at Lily. "Okay, I'll show you the way. You can meet the rest of the Gryffindors in our year. Actually, on second thought, maybe we should avoid that for now."

* * *

Lily was having quite the exhausting day. Classes had been both dull and long, plotting had made her slightly irritable, and now..well, now there was Charlotte. Charlotte, who seemed sweet enough when she wasn't wandlessly throwing hair products at you, was a bit more than Lily had expected to deal with on the first full day of sixth-year.

The walk down to the Great Hall was awkward, to say the least. Cammie and Marlene seemed to have become both deaf and mute, and Sophie had decided to develop some sort of speach impedement. Since their new roommate was quite the jumpy one, Lily had spent the entire walk down to the first floor not only doing almost all of the talking, but explaining to Charlotte why she musn't be frightened of anything slightly off about the castle. Like Mrs. Norris. And the screaming portrait on the fourth floor. And the trick stair. And, it seemed, other students. Although Charlotte had seemed to have warmed-up to her new room mates, that didn't mean she was ready to become chummy with the entire population at Hogwarts. Especially the loud and rambunctious Gryffindors. That was why, after noticing that Charlotte's finger twitched more violently every time she saw a new student, Lily had pulled the girl aside and let the rest of their roommates enter the Great Hall before them (Lily ignoring the sigh of relief that undoubtedly came from Marlene).

"Listen, Charlotte," she started off, unsure what she even intended to say. Charlotte's eyes met Lily's, and for a brief moment the intensity of the light-blue that Lily saw staring at her made her trip over her words. "Err, Charlotte… It's going to be very _very_ crowded in there. And loud, too. There's going to be a lot of people you're not familiar with, and I don't think that they'd take well to their cups of pumpkin juice suddenly wacking them over the head." Lily had hoped Charlotte would at least smile at this, but her face hardly moved. "If you're not comfortable, I could always bring you up some food after dinner." Charlotte seemed to be pondering this, but since she couldn't be sure, Lily kept on "It's not as if the rest of our house is cruel or anything, but tact and sensitivity aren't what Gryffindors are known for."

Lily had noticed that Charlotte's finger had been twitching exceptionally fast during her little oration, but when Lily had said the word "Gryffindors", Charlotte had placed her calmer hand over her shaking one, and brought them to her sides. After a few seconds more of staring, Charlotte nodded and looked between Lily and the entrance expectantly.

Lily smiled and said "Let me know if you need to escape the madness at any time," and pushed open the door.

For a while, things were relatively calm. The now five sixth-year girls sat surrounded by mostly empty seats, greeted now and then by fellow Gryffindors or sixth-years in other houses asking about their holiday. Timmy Finnegan, a fourth year, managed to blow up only one bowl of rice that night, and second year Farus Feeny only transfigured the jar of pumpkin juice into half a chicken-so although the sqwaking was quite annoying, the thing couldn't really _go_ anywhere, which was an improvement from lizard debacle of last spring (and Timmy claimed that the juice still tasted perfectly normal). Charlotte ate some peas and ham, keeping her eyes on her plate unless there was a particularly loud _SQWAKK_ from the chicken-pitcher.

Lily tried not to watch her, knowing that the girl was getting enough stares from around the room, but it could hardly be helped. The thing was, Charlotte was new. And while Hogwarts gets a hundred or so new students every year, it was very rare that the student was older than first-year. In fact, Lily couldn't remember it happening at all of her time at Hogwarts. But being new wasn't the only curious thing about Charlotte- the girl simply _looked_ mysterious. In her neat, though chewed on, Hogwarts robes,she sat up very straight on the bench, keeping her elbows off the table and cutting her food almost cautiously. But her gaze rarely wandered to take in the magnificent sight that was the great hall. Instead, she watched the food disappear from her plate, as if determined not to notice anything or anyone else in the Great Hall. Her eyes, those icey blue oversized eyes, were attentive. Despite the fact that all she had to look at was some peas and ham, she seemed to have taken an invested interest in what was going on with her plate. Her long blonde hair, though pulled into a single plait, seemed to have been put together some time ago and hairs were falling out all over the place- giving her a slightly desheveled look, besides the pressed robes and perfect posture.

_At least people are only staring, _thought Lily._ No one is bothering her, no one is going to dare approach her and start asking her where she's from or what she's doing here or why shes come and - oh _bugger_ those are _my _questions that no one's asking._

"Who the ruddy hell are you?"

_Okay, so _someone's _asking._

Charlotte seemed determined not to look up from her plate. Perhaps she hadn't realized that it was _she _ the ever so casual Sirius Black had just questioned, but by the way her finger started tapping her thigh, Lily doubted it.

"This is Charlotte, Black," Lily said, in a voice that to anyone with a brain said 'be nice or I'll hex you'. "She's our new dormmate. Charlotte, this is Sirius Black and Remus Lupin. They're also in our year and in Gryffindor." Lily tried narrowing her eyes at Black so that he'd get the message to back off, but Sirius just continued to look positively perplexed.

"I don't understand, is she deaf?" Sirius had clearly missed the point of whispering, because although he had leaned close to Remus and lowered his voice from the usual shouting, Charlotte's finger tapping had increased in speed at his words that could be heard by the entire table. Lily huffed furiously, ready to jinx Sirius if she had to, but was appeased when Remus decided to take matters into his own hands.

"Don't be daft, arse-hole, just sit down and eat your ham." Remus seemed to have said the magic words, because fifteen seconds later Sirius was scarfing down a gravy-filled ham sandwich-mouth too full to accidentally offend anyone else. Remus smiled apologetically at Charlotte, but when he realized she wasn't paying any attention to him turned his smile to Lily, who decided to stop glaring and finish the soup what was becoming colder in front of her.

After giving Lily a few questioning looks, to which she only responded with shrugs and half-smiles, Remus had decided to give conversation with Charlotte a go.

"Have you been to a school like Hogwarts before? Or were you homeschooled?" Remus was smiling kindly, but it was wasted. Charlotte remained practically frozen in her seat. "I met a bloke who was homeschooled once, said it was better because as long as he passed his tests he could learn whatever spells he wanted."

Charlotte, who had at least stopped tapping her fingers, didn't answer. Remus glanced at Lily again. Apparently, she was now the expert on Charlotte. She could only manage to shrug once more and, deciding that perhaps Charlotte needed a break, struck up a conversation about prefect duties instead. Not being the center of attention seemed to be how Charlotte faired best, and the not-staring Lily saw that the girl was exhibiting almost completely normal behavior after being left alone. As Charlotte relaxed, Lily did too, slipping into an easy conversation with Remus about the unjustness of the prefect system. Lily was just about to use a string of expletives to explain her distaste of the Head Girl, when Lily noticed that Charlotte was no longer looking at her now-empty plate.

There was a brief moment where Lily was ready to smile giddly and say something encouraging to Charlotte, but that was before she noticed that the little color in the girl's face had faded, that her shoulder was slouched awkwardly, and that her eyes were looking at something in the back of the room with a fierce intensity. Within just a few seconds, Charlottes face contorted to one of horror, and she let out a soft cry of pain loud enough to be heard by the majority of Gryffindor table, who had now turned to stare.

Lily swiveled in her seat to follow Charlotte's eyes, and saw that what had forcefully grabbed her attention had been none other than James Potter and Peter Pettigrew, who had just entered the hall in mid-laughter. Lily felt all of the blood rush to her face in anger, and turned to face Charlotte again- determined to figure out what exactly it was that the bullying arse-holes had done to her- only to see that Charlotte's icey blue gaze was now staring at her with a panicked expression, the look of horror not quite gone from her eyes.

Lily stood, keeping eye contact with Charlotte. Out of the corner of her eye, Lily could see that the pair of Gryffindors were approaching them. She also thought she saw a fork or two flip on the table that weren't being touched.

"I've had enough to eat, have you Charlotte? Let's go back to the tower." Lily stepped over the bench and attempted to smile at the girl next to her, though was unsure if such a feat was possible at the moment, and was relieved to see that Charlotte was standing too. She looked frightened, but was still only looking at Lily. Lily lead the way hurridley out of the Great Hall, thankful that Peter and Potter were on the other side of the table, and only stopped once they had reached the foot of the stairs leading to the second floor.

"Are you alright, Charlotte?" Lily asked worriedly, watching as Charlotte almost doubled over, panting slightly and clutching her stomach. "Would you like to go to the Hospital Wing?" Charlotte shook her head and sat on the floor, putting her head between her knees. Lily slowly sat down next to her, watching as Charlotte tried to catch her breath and calm down. Tentatively, Lily raised a hand and placed it lightly on Charlotte's back, and was relieved when Charlotte did not flinch or object. Instead, she muttered a quiet

"_I'm sorry."_

which were the only words Lily heard her speak the entire night.

* * *

**_BANG_**

It was an hour after dinner had ended, and Lily had had enough. Charlotte was curled up in a ball on her bed, eyes closed but body too tense to be sleeping. The rest of the girls had all returned, and had assured Lily that none of the sixth-year boys had had any idea why Charlotte had reacted the way she did. But Lily didn't believe it. Unable to be convinced to just leave it alone, Lily had decided that she would confront the problem herself.

And so she started by knocking down the door to the sixth-year boy's room. Which, admittedly, she hadn't planned on doing.

"Fucking-! _Merlin, _what the HELLare you _doing_, Evans?" But Lily didn't have time for Black, there was only one marauder she wanted to talk to.

"POTTER!" She shouted. There was a noise like something dropping in the bathroom, and she made her way over to it. Inside, a bewildered looking James Potter was standing, shirtless and with toothpaste on his chin. Lily wasted no time in pointing her wand at her target. His eye's widened at the sight of it, and Lily could see that there was fear in his face that he was trying to mask.

"Come now, Evans, you don't have to _accost_ me just to-"

"_Do NOT_ _start that with ME, Potter, " _Lily hissed. "What. Did. You. _Do to her?"_ James' eyebrows shot up, realizing what Lily was talking about.

"What-_nothing!_ I hadn't even _seen_ her before dinner."

"Don't _lie_ to me, Potter. I _saw _her face when you walked in. What, did she look at you the wrong way and you decided to teach her her first lesson of the school year?"

"No! I wouldn't-"

"Oh _right_-"

"_NO._"James' voice was rising now, and he straigtened himself as he took a step towards Lily. She remained where she was, wand not wavering. "I _wouldn't! _How could you think-" he broke off, growling.

"It's not like there isn't precedence of you hexing innocent people." It was a simple statement, but James' face got deep red as soon as the words were out of Lily's mouth. His face twisted into something between a scowl and a sneer. For the first time, Lily noticed that Potter was holding _his_ wand as well.

"_I. Don't. Hex. Innocent. Girls." _He spluttered through gritted teeth.

"No. Just innocent fourth year boys in Ravenclaws. And second year Slytherins. How_ arrogant_ and _cruel_ does someone have to be to hex a twelve year old? Yeah, it's _so hard_ to believe-"

She had registered that James' wand had raised from it's previous downward facing position, but she didn't care. If he wanted to try her out, she was more than willing to comply.

"_Expelliarmus!"_

Both James' and Lily's wand had flown from their hands and into Remus', who had apparently decided that one broken door was enough damage for the day.

"He's telling the truth, Lily. Jame and Peter were in the Hospital Wing before dinner, and were with us before that." Remus' voice was flat, but Lily didn't move her eyes away from James', who was still red in the face and glaring.

"Then _why_ was she so terrified of you?" Lily watched for James' reaction, looking for any sign of guilt or deception, but only saw frustration.

James seemed to not want to answer her, and eventually spit out the words "_No idea_."

"You should leave, Evans," came Sirius' voice, sounding almost as angry as James looked.

For a few more moments, Lily glared as James glowered down at her. Realizing that there was nothing left to say, she finally turned to leave. Sirius was holding his wand, staring at Lily as if she was a Slytherin who had just insulted his honor. Peter was staring with is mouth open, eyes darting between James and Lily.

"My wand," she said, facing Remus and sticking out her hand. Remus' lips were pressed together tight, and Lily wondered whether he was holding back something he wanted to say to her. He too, looked angry (though less murderous than Sirius) and handed her back her wand without saying a word. Once her wand was in her hand, she stormed out of the room, not bothering to fix the door on her way out.

* * *

A/N: Thanks for reading! Question: What are your thoughts about the length of the chapters. They're between 3-4,000 words usually, which is an average length for a chapter in a novel. However, fanfictions tend to have four chapters in one on this site. As readers, do you have a preference?


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